Track By Track: PLANET - ‘Information Overload’
Aussie indie band PLANET have just released the new album ‘Information Overload’.
Featuring everything from classic rock, to heart-breaking ballads, folk tunes, and piano-led prog-rock, Information Overload makes for a dynamic listen while encapsulating PLANET’s signature indie sound. Featuring the remarkable singles “Need More” and “Ship Won’t Change” Information Overload is an honest and raw exploration of navigating complex relationships, packed full of nostalgic indie sounds and poetic metaphors.
They took a moment to talk to us about it - track by track.
Lost My Honesty
We had this song sitting in the vault since before our first EP. When we were picking demo’s for the album, we chucked a different beat on it and added a new hook section “another comfort feeling” - really lifted the song. The sense of urgency made a strong choice for an album opener. It’s heavy on the guitars but also starts to introduce some synth sounds that nod to the direction of the rest of the album. This one’s a bit of a love story. It’s about getting confused and losing sleep thinking about someone you love, working through it and finding comfort in the relationship despite their trauma.
Hard To Come By
Matty’s favourite track on the album! It hits you right in the feels and the chorus is probably the most beautiful on the whole record. We had a string section track live in Manchester for some of the songs and this is the first one they appear in. We’d been delving into writing scores during the demo process and were always in the mindset of capturing a real performance. We also got to engineer a grand piano in the Sydney studio we were using with our mate Kellie Banyai playing. It’s about wanting for the person you love to come home at night. Only by waiting can you fully understand how much they mean to you.
Resign
Resign is the first single we dropped from the record. It’s super fast paced and straight to the point. Tommy had the chorus laying around for a while and we honestly didn’t really change much from the demo version. Lyrically, it’s about not being enough in someone’s eyes and that affects you to the point of collapse. You try to break past that to make it work.
Always Something
Tommy wanted to drop a song into the mix that had a “sparkly pop” feel to it, drawing heaps of inspo from 80’s sounds and current UK pop bands. We usually burn through studio time pretty quickly and efficiently but the lead guitar EBow part towards the end took a few hours… We had the section on loop and played different variations until we had the one that fit the best. The breath of fresh air hits in the middle 8 with just Matty’s vocals, acoustic & cello’s. The strings were tracked by Pete Whitfield and Simon Turner in Manchester.
Northern Skyline
Northern is one of the three oldest tracks on the record. We released this one a few years back as a standalone single but we wanted to include a few fan favourites on our debut album. We actually didn’t re-track any of this. Adrian Bushby (who produced and mixed the album) re-mixed it to sit better with the rest of the songs. He brought a lot of parts to the front and gave each instrument its own space instead of flooding the mix, which is something we used to do when first writing tunes. The OG version had a master fade out but the new extended outro with a clear ending sounds mad and again, highlights some of the instruments we originally tracked. The song is about someone you care about just up and leaving to live in another country, and you’re not really dealing with it very well. Northern Skyline being the northern hemisphere.
Need More
This track was created a bit differently from our usual process. It was a while ago now so the details are a bit blurry, but that main hook line “I know there’s something in the way” was actually a hook at the end of a completely different song. From memory, we got a bit stuck on that track and couldn’t figure out how to piece it together. That hook line jumped right out at us and I remember jumping on the piano to lay down the big chords - it’s the first time we’ve had a piano feature more prominently on a track. We also explored the synth world a bit and tried to push the song a bit further sonically. It’s definitely the curveball track on the album and it’s gonna sound massive live. Lyrically, it’s about wanting a deeper relationship with someone whether it's a friendship or something else, but there is something holding the other person back from letting them ‘in’.
Ship Won’t Change
‘Ship Won’t Change’ was a latecomer to the mix - the song itself came together pretty easily as it’s a classic folk tune at heart. We sent the session back and forth quite a bit, layering in new parts while trying to keep it simple and honest. Strings were tracked live in Manchester by Pete Whitfield and Simon Turner. During the mixing process, we wanted to add in harmonies - Lily & Grace from CLEWS came to mind straight away. They came ‘round and nailed the whole song in like 30 mins... such great musicians. Also the first time we’ve had another artist feature on a track. It’s the only song on the record with a 12 string acoustic in it. We combined another two 6 string acoustics with it, low in the mix so would make it a 24-string guitar actually. It’s about being in a relationship but always feeling like it could fuck up at any time, so much that it makes you feel whack. The ‘ship’, being the relationship and trying to keep it from changing.
Aching Dream
Another single from one of our previously released EP’s. Our producer, Adrian Bushby, did such an amazing job on the new mix creating clarity. This song is a super classic ballad and we’ve loved playing it live for many years now. It’s about being deeply in love with someone but accepting they don’t love you back.
Information Overload
The title track of the album. Matty wrote this one across a few soundchecks when we were last on tour in the UK. It’s probably the most straight-up rock song on the record. Lyrically, it’s about getting confused and overwhelmed by all the things happening in the world to the point where you can’t think clearly. It is the paradox of being so well connected but still feeling alone. Seems so apparent today where people are losing touch with what makes them human, being swamped by social and news media.
You, Just a Little More
This track has also been previously released but we really wanted it to be a part of the debut album. It’s about loving someone more than the other in a relationship, mainly because they’ve been dealing with past trauma. The writing tells the story of helping to sort that out so it’s not a problem anymore
Pulse
Pulse is probably the most prog-rock track on the album and also a very very old song. It was written almost 8 years ago when we first started writing together. One of those songs that was just floating around and couldn’t really figure out what to do with it. After stripping a lot of drums and guitars back, and writing the piano part, the song started to make a bit more sense sonically. Really nice to have the piano as the focus of the song. Kellie Banyai played beautifully and it was heaps of fun to track grand piano for the first time. The end hook has a lot of power and is one of Matty’s best vocal performances on the record. Lyrically, it’s about falling out of love with someone because people change.
One To Keep You
This really was the best way to tie off the debut album and came really close to being the title track. Matty sent through a very stripped back version of this towards the end of the demo process and it was literally just acoustic guitar and vocals. Straight away we knew the song was gonna need strings and big sluggy guitar riffs. There’s not that much going on in terms of instruments but Adrian Bushby still managed to get that big, clear sound. We took a bit of inspo from one of our all time favourite bands, The Verve. Sonically, it has such a hopeful and uplifting sound but the lyrics hit a bit different. It’s about leaving a relationship because you don’t think you are good enough for the other person.
